Cowan's Croft

A rounded summit in the Ettrick Hills, rising to 579 metres above the rolling Border country. The hill forms part of the watershed between Ettrick Water and Yarrow Water, with grassy slopes typical of the Southern Uplands. Often climbed alongside neighbouring Donalds in a circuit of the upper Ettrick valley.

• •The name 'Cowan's Croft' is unusual among Scottish hills, combining the Scots surname 'Cowan' (possibly referring to a historical tenant farmer or landowner) with 'croft', meaning a small enclosed field or piece of farmland, suggesting this high ground once formed part of a hill farm's grazing territory.
• •The hill sits on the watershed between two of the Scottish Borders' most storied valleys: Ettrick Water to the west, associated with James Hogg the 'Ettrick Shepherd', and Yarrow Water to the east, immortalised in countless Border ballads.
• •As a Donald Dewey, the hill qualifies by both the standard 500-metre prominence threshold and an additional lowering to include hills between 400 and 499 metres prominence, though Cowan's Croft comfortably exceeds the original criterion.